


Be My Valentine, Jerk

by DeceitfulHonesty



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Love/Hate, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:16:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeceitfulHonesty/pseuds/DeceitfulHonesty
Summary: It started as sparring partners. Then, roommates. Then, something more that neither of them were prepared for.





	Be My Valentine, Jerk

They started out as sparring partners at the gym. Daisy ran out of people who would let her punch them everyday so she had to pick on the new guy. Surprisingly, he agreed to step into the ring with her with only a shrug. Even more surprisingly, he could hold his own against her. 

One of the things Daisy loved about Robbie—wait, did she say 'loved'? No, she sort of liked…tolerated—one of the things Daisy _tolerated_ about Robbie, was that he didn’t hold back. Most of the other guys she sparred with were afraid to 'hit a girl.' Daisy typically responded to their sexist asses by laying them out in ten seconds. The rest still hesitated and pulled their punches, which annoyed the hell out of Daisy. If she was dragging someone into the ring, she was doing it to let off steam and beat the crap out of something. 

Robbie was the same. When they went into the ring, people stopped to watch, knowing they would get a spectacle. Coulson, the manager of the gym, cursed under his breath every time he missed them fight, since they were so equally matched. Sometimes Daisy ended up on top, sometimes Robbie did. 

After a few months of bantering between beating the crap out of each other, Daisy had to find a new roommate and Robbie’s lease happened to be up at the same time, so they moved in together. 

The thing is, despite how well they clicked in the ring, outside of it they got on like oil and water. Some nights they meshed like gears in a clock and could move around the kitchen with dancer-like precision while Daisy helped Robbie make dinner ('helped’ meaning she fetched and put away all the ingredients while Robbie worked his magic over the stove). 

Other days, Daisy was just as likely to greet Robbie with a flick to the ear and a curse. Those days, Robbie would respond with a scowl and a middle finger. 

It was on one of the latter days that _it_ happened. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daisy and Robbie stumbled into their apartment after a night out. It was a friend from the gym’s birthday and he promised to buy everyone a round. The next five rounds Daisy and Robbie split. 

Finally back in her apartment, Daisy sighed and kicked off her shoes. Then, she realized the annoying sound that had plagued her since they left the bar had followed her home. 

“Can you make that obnoxious sound stop?” she snapped in Robbie’s direction. 

He squinted in confusion. “What sound?”

“That damn squeaky sound. I’ve been hearing it since we got outside,” Daisy said. 

Robbie blinked and then swung his arms. The squeaking sound started again in time with his movements. “That sound?”

“Yes, that one.” Daisy grabbed a glass and started filling it up from the sink. She could already feel a pulsing behind her eyes. She was going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow. 

“It’s just my jacket. Sorry my wardrobe is so annoying to you,” Robbie replied sarcastically. He strode into the kitchen and reached for a glass which happened to be right next to Daisy. The squeak of leather on leather drilled right into her ears and she gritted her teeth. 

“Everything about you is annoying to me right now,” Daisy growled. 

“What do you want me to do about it?”

Daisy whipped around to shoot a glare at him and nearly collided with his chest. He hadn’t taken a step back since grabbing the glass and stared a challenge down at her. She was never going to back down from a challenge from Robbie. 

“Take it off,” Daisy demanded. She meant to finish the command with 'and shove it up your ass,' but the words died in her throat when Robbie set the glass down, unzipped the leather jacket, and tossed it on the table behind him.

Why in god’s name did he have to be wearing that skin tight tank top underneath it? 

Neither knew who moved first, but suddenly the small space between them was closed as their lips collided. 

It was sloppy, rough, desperate. Hands everywhere grappled for purchase on skin, in hair, wherever they could reach. Daisy’s senses were so full of Robbie that she barely noticed that he angled them down the hallway and into his bedroom. Somewhere, her rational mind was impressed that he executed that maneuver in this position _and_ drunk, but her rational mind was silenced by the alcohol running through her blood and the rough hands sliding into her pants. 

She executed her own maneuver by using one foot that was wrapped around Robbie’s waist to kick the door closed behind them. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daisy woke up feeling like her face was on fire. The pounding in her head was definitely unpleasant, but she felt like she was suffocating in an oven right now. 

She cracked an eye open and realized her face was smashed into a man’s bare chest. 

Oh shit.

She thought she remembered getting home from the party and she thought she was alone at the time. Wait, no. She wasn’t alone. She was with….Robbie. 

Daisy detached her face from the bare skin in front of her and looked up. Robbie was snoring gently, with one arm draped across Daisy’s shoulder. 

_Oh. SHIT._

Daisy froze. Any movement would probably wake him up, but the longer she stayed, the more chance he would wake up anyway. Did he remember last night?

Daisy wiggled out from under his arm as slowly as possible. She had almost fully extracted herself when she felt Robbie’s hand tense. 

She held her breath and looked into his dark eyes which were as wide and confused as hers were moments before. 

Daisy looked down and realized she was still naked, crossed her arms over her chest, and jabbed a finger in front of Robbie’s face. 

“W-We are never speaking of this again.” 

Robbie nodded. “Agreed.”

Daisy tumbled out of bed, gathered up all her things, and beat a hasty retreat to her own room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coffee was a gift from heaven. Daisy held the warm mug up her nose, as close as she could without the steam burning her, and inhaled. The familiar scent, mixed with a hint of caramel today, drove away the cold of outside while Jemma talked about wedding planning. 

“—My father is adamant that we have a huge family wedding back home, but I know not many of our friends will be able to arrange a trip to England, so we’ll have a reception here when we get back,” Jemma finished. 

Elena pouted slightly. “I wanted to see Mack as your flower girl.”

Jemma snorted. “Maybe Fitz can talk him into something of the sort.”

Daisy smiled at the image of Mack in a frilly white dress, grumpily tossing flower petals up the aisle of a church. She blew lightly on her coffee and took another deep breath through her nose. The smell shifted into something familiar and warm. It reminded her of her apartment, leather, Robbie’s jacket, their couch, Robbie.

  “So, Daisy,” Jemma said, pulling Daisy out of her thoughts with a jolt. “How long have you and Robbie been sleeping together?”

Elena rounded on her and Daisy choked on her coffee. Did Jemma read her mind? “Excuse me?”

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious that you two like each other. The sexual tension between you is ridiculous,” Jemma explained. 

“There is no 'sexual tension.' There’s just normal tension because he’s a constant pain in my ass,” Daisy defended. 

“Too much information, Daisy,” Elena muttered into her latte. Daisy glared and threw her wadded up napkin at her. 

Jemma didn’t look convinced. “You know, studies have shown that you can tell by the way a woman walks if she’s recently had an—”

“Okay, keep your science out of my sex life, thanks,” Daisy interrupted. 

Daisy heard the growl of an engine outside and tensed up. When she saw the red sports car roll past the window and not Robbie’s black Charger, she relaxed. 

Jemma and Elena shared a silent look, which Daisy ignored. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daisy slowly opened the door to her apartment, hoping that Robbie would be out. No luck, his keys were hanging on the hook by the door. 

She slipped in the door, closed it quietly behind her, and tiptoed towards the kitchen. Maybe she could grab a snack and hide in her room the rest of the night.

“Daisy?” Robbie called from the living room. 

Damnit, no luck on that either. She picked up her pace and tried to grab the bag of chips on the counter, but Robbie appeared in the doorway. 

“Hey,” he greeted. 

“'Sup,” Daisy replied with forced casualness and refused to make eye contact. She busied herself going through all the cabinets. Because it was totally believable that she was going to find something for dinner in the spice drawer. 

“I know we agreed never to talk about last night,” he started and Daisy cringed. “But we should.”

“I don’t see what there is to talk about,” Daisy replied. “We got a little too drunk and fooled around. No big deal and it never has to happen again.”

Behind her, there was only silence for a moment and Daisy almost thought Robbie had left. 

“Or…”

Daisy whipped around to face Robbie. “Or? Or what?” 

“Or it could happen again?” 

Daisy scanned his face for any sign that he was joking. He looked awkward, but otherwise sincere. 

“What are you saying?” Daisy asked suspiciously. _That he’s in love with me? That he wants to be in a relationship? Is he going to PROPOSE??_

“I’m just saying it wasn’t half bad. Maybe we could arrange something where we can do…that again every once in awhile,” Robbie said. “No strings attached, just roommates who occasionally sleep together.”

Daisy tried to process what he was saying. She always thought Robbie had just tolerated her since he moved in. He was always so quiet and broody, though Daisy would occasionally catch him staring at her (he usually looked irritated, so Daisy just assumed it was always directed at her). 

But now he wanted to be, what, friends with benefits? 

If she recalled, last night was a little better than 'not half bad,' so maybe it wasn’t the worst idea. 

“Okay,” Daisy agreed. Robbie seemed to relax. “We could do that. No strings, no labels, no one outside this apartment has to know.”

Something tightened in Robbie’s eyes, but he smiled. “Deal. You busy right now?” he teased. 

Daisy scoffed. “At least buy me dinner first.”

Robbie blanched. “Wait, I thought—”

Daisy smirked. “I meant _actually_ buy me dinner, not like a date. We have no food in this place.”

“Pizza?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After their conversation, Daisy and Robbie’s lives went back to normal. They still sparred together at the gym, cooked together, bickered nearly constantly. The only difference was that sometimes their nights ended with them tumbling into each others’ beds. Daisy seemed to wake up curled around Robbie more often than she woke up alone after awhile. 

She tried to ignore the hollow feeling in her chest when she went to bed with Robbie and woke up without him. She chalked it up to her abandonment issues and nothing else. 

Then she noticed a change. 

“What the hell are you doing?” she shouted at Robbie once they called their match. 

“Um….sparring? Like we do every week,” he said. He started to unwrap his hands and ducked out of the ring.

“No, you’re pulling your punches,” Daisy accused. 

“No, I’m not.”

Daisy planted herself in front of him before he could slink off to the locker room. “Yeah, you are. I know what it’s like when you actually try in a match. Remember when I stole your car and scratched it?”

“How could I forget?” he said, bitterly. 

“I had bruises for two weeks after that match. Today, you might as well have been throwing cotton balls at me,” Daisy said. 

Robbie shrugged. “Maybe I just feel different about it than you do.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she shouted after him. 

He pushed around her towards the locker room and didn’t respond. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“—he’s been more of a pain in the ass than usual, is all I’m saying,” Daisy vented over coffee with Elena and Jemma again. 

“He’s obviously in love with you,” Jemma blurted.

“That’s insane. We can barely stand each other most days.”

“Clearly a defense mechanism,” Jemma replied. 

Daisy scoffed. “Why should I take relationship advice from you? You didn’t realize your best friend was in love with you for, like, ten years. Yo-Yo, tell her she’s crazy.”

Elena sipped her drink. “She may be crazy, but I think she’s right.”

Daisy just blinked at them. “What about our relationship screams romance? We spend most of the day punching each other and, at night—”

She clamped her mouth shut, but the damage was done. Elena’s eyes twinkled and she was suddenly more interested in this conversation. 

“At night you what, Daisy?”

Daisy felt her cheeks heat up. “We…may have slept together a few times.”

Elena pounded on the table enthusiastically. “I knew it!”

“A few times?!” Jemma exclaimed. 

“It-It’s just casual! No strings and all that,” Daisy said, trying to wave it off. 

“When did this start?” Jemma asked. 

“A month or so ago.”

“When did Robbie start acting weird?”

“When he was born,” Daisy deadpanned. Jemma leveled a frown at her. Daisy sighed. “Fine, like a week ago.”

“Has anything changed in the last week?” Jemma prodded. 

“Nope.”

“Who’s Lincoln?” Elena asked. 

Daisy turned to look at her and saw Elena was holding Daisy’s phone. She snatched it back. “No one. He’s just a new guy at the gym I’ve been training.”

“Does Robbie know about Lincoln?” Jemma asked. 

“I don’t know!”

“When did you start training Lincoln?” Elena jumped in.

“I came here to vent about my roommate over coffee. Why am I being interrogated?” Daisy snapped. 

“Answer the question!” Jemma demanded. 

“Last week!”

Jemma and Elena both settled back in their chairs looking smug. 

“Mystery solved,” Elena announced. “He’s jealous because he loves you.”

Daisy rolled her eyes and downed her coffee. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daisy glared in the direction of the TV while she waited for Robbie to get home from work. Jemma and Elena had no idea what they were talking about. There was no way Robbie loved her. And even if he did, she definitely didn’t love him.

Right?

She supposed she could take Jemma’s advice and 'talk about it' but Daisy would rather jump out of building than talk about feelings. Instead she came up with a little science experiment (Jemma would probably approve of that, too). 

Robbie came in and headed straight to the kitchen with a bag of groceries. Daisy gave him a minute and followed him in.

“Hey,” she said, by way of both a greeting and a proposition. He spun around and she pushed him up against the counter and pulled him down for a harsh kiss. 

He responded with equal enthusiasm and pulled her closer. With practiced ease, Daisy tugged him backwards towards her bedroom. 

Once the door was closed, it was just like every other time, except this time, Daisy was paying attention. 

Every sigh and lingering kiss, whisper of her name on his lips or heated gaze. All of it Daisy analyzed for any trace of romantic feeling behind it. Afterwards, they snuggled more than Daisy thought casual friends-with-benefits should. 

She stared at the wall, going over all the clues she had gathered and wondered how she missed it before. And then she thought about the warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest whenever she was wrapped up in Robbie’s arms.

“Shit,” she hissed and lurched out of bed. 

Robbie jolted awake. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just…forgot to call my grandma for her birthday,” Daisy rambled. She started pulling on clothes and snatched her phone off her nightstand.

“So…you’re calling her now? It’s one in the morning,” Robbie said. 

“She lives in…China, so it’s, like…normal time there. Be right back.” 

Daisy grabbed her coat and darted out the door. She walked along the dark sidewalk in front of her apartment complex and called the first person she knew would be awake at this hour. The phone rang once before Jemma picked up. 

“Hello?”

“We have a problem,” Daisy said.

“Oh no, what did you do?”

“I— What? I didn’t do anything. Robbie’s in love with me—” 

“Yes, I told you that.”

“—And I think I’m in love with him,” Daisy finished. She cringed as soon as the words left her mouth, but she knew they were true. 

“That’s wonderful! So, are you guys official now? Do you want to join Fitz and I for brunch?—”

“No, I…I haven’t told him yet,” Daisy muttered. 

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know how! How do I say 'hey, let’s stop being casual, no-strings-attached and let’s attach some strings?'“ Daisy shouted. 

“Well, probably not like that,” Jemma deadpanned. “You’ll come up with something. Just be yourself.”

Daisy sighed and thanked Jemma, somewhat sarcastically, for the advice. She headed back into her apartment and crawled into bed, where Robbie had fallen back asleep. He woke up halfway when Daisy slid back into the covers. 

“How’s your grandma?” he muttered. 

“Who— Oh, she’s fine. Enjoying her cake and all that,” Daisy replied. Robbie hummed an acknowledgement and curled himself around her. 

Daisy mentally berated herself for not seeing it sooner. Friends-with-benefits don’t nuzzle their faces into the other person’s neck like that. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on, two more,” Daisy goaded. 

She was just finishing up a training session with Lincoln at the gym, when she saw Robbie wander in. She gave him a half-wave in acknowledgement, which he responded to with a glare. Great, it was one of _those_ days. 

It probably wasn’t helped by the fact that she was only wearing a sports bra and leaning over Lincoln while he finished up his bench presses. Whoops. 

She helped Lincoln put the weights back and set up the next appointment with him and headed off to find Robbie. Luckily, he already had his hands wrapped since he was beating the stuffing out of a bag. 

“Reyes, ring in five?” Daisy said. Her voice lifted at the end like she was phrasing it as a request, but her face and body language said it was a demand. 

Robbie replied with a grunt, which Daisy took as a yes. 

She grabbed some wraps for her hands and waited for Robbie in the ring. 

Right off the bat, Daisy could tell he was pulling his punches again. She purposely left some very obvious openings, which Daisy knew Robbie saw, but he hesitated and held his hands up in defense instead. Daisy knew it wasn’t a lack of aggression today that was keeping him from fighting properly, given how angrily he was attacking that bag earlier. 

Even the regular onlookers seemed bored with their fight and wandered off. 

Daisy held her arms in a ’T’ to indicate a time out. 

“What the hell?” she demanded. 

“What?” Robbie shrugged. Daisy had known him too long to believe his act that he didn’t know what she meant. 

“Are you going to actually do something or are we wasting our time here? Again,” Daisy asked. 

Robbie lowered his arms and muttered, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Daisy responded with a swift punch to his nose. “That’s the entire point of being in here,” she shouted, “We’re fighting each other. We’re going to get hurt.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to do it anymore than,” Robbie shouted back. He turned and strode to the ropes to duck out of the ring. 

Shit, now was the time to say something. 

“I love you,” Daisy blurted. Maybe not something _that_ blunt. 

She slapped her hands over her mouth as soon as the words left her mouth, but the damage was done. Everyone in the gym was frozen like time had stopped, including Robbie. 

“What?” he whispered. 

Oh no, had she read this wrong? Was she making a total ass out of herself in front of everyone at her workplace? Speaking of which…

“Can everybody mind their own business for a minute?” Daisy snapped at the gym at large. Everyone quickly scurried to busy themselves and make it look like they weren’t paying attention. Now that they were gone, she had to deal with Robbie. 

He shuffled back towards her, eyeing her suspiciously. As if she would joke about something like that. She met his eyes with resolve and gulped. 

“Did you just say…you love me?” Robbie asked. 

Daisy took a deep breath. She was suddenly self-conscious under his accusing gaze. 

“I…Yeah. This,” she gestured between them, “has been going on for awhile now, but I only recently noticed that something changed and it took awhile for me to realize exactly what—”

The rest of her tirade was cut off by lips on hers and an arm wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. This wasn’t any different than the numerous other times they kissed, theoretically, but it felt different now. It was also, Daisy realized, the first time they’d ever kissed in public. 

They finally broke apart for air. 

“Daisy?” Robbie whispered. 

“Yeah?”

“You talk too much.” Robbie smirked. 

Daisy smirked as well and was about to pull him back for another kiss, when they heard the wolf-whistling from the other gym members. 

“Fuck off!” Daisy shouted. She heard an echo of the same sentiment shouted across from her and she smirked at Robbie. 

Maybe they were more compatible than she initially thought. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you two doing anything for Valentine’s Day?” Jemma asked. 

Daisy wrinkled her nose. “Why would we? We’ve only been officially together for, like, two weeks and neither of us is really the ‘flowers and expensive dinner’ type.”

Jemma shrugged. “You don’t have to do anything like that. It’s just a day to celebrate being together. Do something you both enjoy.”

“Like punching each other?”

Jemma cringed. “Not really a model for a healthy relationship.”

“Relax,” Daisy soothed. “It’s only at the gym.”

“Well, maybe just get him a small gift or something.”

“Like what?”

Jemma shrugged. “You could always try to make him something.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Daisy consulted the one place she knew would be full of gross Valentine-themed crafts: Pinterest.

With a bowl of cereal in front of her, she scrolled through a thousand pages of pink and white heart-shaped concoctions that made Daisy throw up in her mouth a bit until she found one she might be capable of making. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One trip to the craft store and way too much money in supplies later, Daisy settled into the couch with Netflix to get to work. Robbie wandered by a few times without paying too much attention to what she was doing. The one time he stopped and looked, his brows furrowed together.

“Since when do you do needlework, abuela?” he asked. 

“Hey, how do you say 'fuck off' in Spanish?” Daisy countered. 

Robbie smirked and headed back to his room. Daisy glared at the hallway and then looked at her work. Far too cheesy. She erased the outline of the letters, picked out the stitches she had already made, and redrew the words into something more appropriate. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was finally Valentine’s Day. Daisy’s traditional reminder labeled ‘stock up on half-price pink candy tomorrow’ went off bright and early. Robbie was already gone and at work, so Daisy would have to give him his gift later. She got up and started her day. 

On the way home from work, she grabbed a box of candy and a pizza (one of the fancy frozen ones, not the cheap ones). 

Robbie was home and parked in front of the TV already. Daisy muttered a greeting and tried to hide her loot while she snuck into the kitchen. He barely acknowledged her presence while he flicked through the DVR. 

When she got into the kitchen she skidded to a stop and her jaw dropped. 

Every surface was covered in small plates of Daisy’s favorite dishes that Robbie made. The spaces between the plates had tiny vases with individual flowers in every color of the rainbow in them. Daisy smiled. This spread put her pizza to shame. She was about to open her mouth to comment on it, when Robbie interrupted her. 

“Daisy? Please tell me you recorded this garbage movie, Pacific Rim on accident,” he called. 

Fuzzy feeling gone. “Excuse me?” 

“I don’t know if I can be with someone who would waste two hours of their life watching that,” he replied. 

Daisy poked her head into the living room. “You mean the cinematic masterpiece by visionary Guillermo del Toro?”

Robbie scoffed. “It’s giant robots fighting aliens that live in the ocean for some reason. It’s basically like a 12-year-old boy’s fantasy version of Godzilla.”

Daisy glared and stomped off to her room. She dug around under her bed and pulled out her present for Robbie. There was no better moment for this sentiment than right now. 

She marched into the living room and chucked it at his head. Luckily, it was soft. 

Robbie’s hands shot up to catch it. “What the—”

Daisy leaned against the wall to watch his reaction. She was actually pretty proud of how it turned out. 

Robbie’s baffled expression was so priceless Daisy wished she had a camera. He read the front of the little heart-shaped pillow and Daisy could see his eyes scanning over the swirly letters she had embroidered that read ‘You piss me the fuck off.’

Robbie chuckled. “You make this?” 

Daisy nodded. The shape of the pillow itself was a little wonky, since she had never sewn anything like that before, but the lettering looked nice anyway.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, asshole.” Daisy shuffled over to the couch and bent down to press a kiss to Robbie’s lips.

She felt his lips turn up in a smile as he deepened the kiss. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day. Does this mean you forgive me for not liking Pacific Rim?”

“Not on your life. In fact, we’re gonna watch it right now.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this prompt was mostly based around that last scene and then the build up part got away from me. Hope you all enjoy it!  
> Also, Pacific Rim is a cinematic masterpiece don't @ me


End file.
